Disentangling the role of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance on rising forest water-use efficiency

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Rossella GuerrieriAndrew D Richardson

Abstract

Multiple lines of evidence suggest that plant water-use efficiency (WUE)-the ratio of carbon assimilation to water loss-has increased in recent decades. Although rising atmospheric CO2 has been proposed as the principal cause, the underlying physiological mechanisms are still being debated, and implications for the global water cycle remain uncertain. Here, we addressed this gap using 30-y tree ring records of carbon and oxygen isotope measurements and basal area increment from 12 species in 8 North American mature temperate forests. Our goal was to separate the contributions of enhanced photosynthesis and reduced stomatal conductance to WUE trends and to assess consistency between multiple commonly used methods for estimating WUE. Our results show that tree ring-derived estimates of increases in WUE are consistent with estimates from atmospheric measurements and predictions based on an optimal balancing of carbon gains and water costs, but are lower than those based on ecosystem-scale flux observations. Although both physiological mechanisms contributed to rising WUE, enhanced photosynthesis was widespread, while reductions in stomatal conductance were modest and restricted to species that experienced moisture limitations. Thi...Continue Reading

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Citations

Apr 5, 2020·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·Richard P AllanOlga Zolina
Sep 13, 2020·The New Phytologist·Wenzhi WangNate G McDowell
Apr 15, 2020·Global Change Biology·E N Jack BrookshireBruce Finney
Feb 15, 2020·Nature Communications·Laura E CondonReed M Maxwell
Sep 8, 2020·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Mana GharunNina Buchmann
Jan 20, 2021·Global Change Biology·Soumaya BelmecheriShelly A Rayback
Dec 2, 2020·The Science of the Total Environment·Rhian L Rees-OwenAlina D Marca
Feb 10, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Justin M Mathias, Richard B Thomas
Jan 11, 2021·Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America·Christian Salas-Eljatib
Apr 21, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Phoebe L ZarnetskeCheng-En Yang
Jun 19, 2021·Annual Review of Plant Biology·Neha BhatiaMiltos Tsiantis
Oct 7, 2021·The New Phytologist·Santiago TruebaCraig Brodersen

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Software Mentioned

Clim
R Studio
full
iWUEm
COFECHA
MeasureJ2X

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